Not really making a point about the rights or wrongs of players drinking alcohol after a game, but doesn't weight and metabolism have a significant effect on blood alcohol levels? You'd expect rugby players (particularly the bigger ones) to be able to drink more without putting themselves over the limit. So I don't think you can really guess how many pints he downed up until 4am. Maybe knowing they can down more than the average person and not suffer the effects as much gives some rugby players a dangerous sense of complacency. Ultimately though, the only sensible thing to do is not drive after drinking alcohol. Taxis are a thing after all.

Yep, all relevant points. My point was that none of us (unless we saw him) could know how many he’d had or the state he was in. I’ve dealt with many drink drivers who apart from the smell, would appear sober but go on to blow way over the legal limit.
Tautai May have been absolutely legless, he may not but to make the decision to drive knowing he’d ‘had a few’ was 100% wrong.

When you're on call you're effectively on works time, getting paid like you say, totally different.

Maguire - I think he did during the play offs, not just any time we got beat. As I said, I'd be an advocate of that.

Fighters - I don't claim to be a fan of the sport but I'm fairly sure they temporarily stop drinking when coming up to a fight, then let their hair down afterwards. Again, I've no issue with them asking players to take it easy for short periods prior to important games, but it should be a request, not a demand, and it shouldn't be on a whim on the back of a result.

I really don't think you're bearing in mind that these are basically men doing a job. Often for a relatively poor wage in relation to what they sacrifice, put their bodies through and the abuse they take. As far as I'm concerned it's up to them if they go out or not, and if they are going to, the night after a game would be the ideal time to do so. Don't confuse this with me defending his drink driving, that's another matter, but thinking saying "We've lost, so you're not allowed out" is going to work with them is beyond naive.

Naive? I think you are being naive if you think this doesn’t happen already. I know for a fact SL teams are in the next day after a loss meaning they can’t go out on the p155, if they win they get the day off meaning they can.

When players go out after a defeat they open themselves up to trouble from fans. Maguire stopped all that and basically ensured that the players were never in a position to make a tit of themselves, and whilst yes they may have had a drink (no issues if it isn't during a drink ban) they didn't lord it wrong King St until 4am after a defeat as used to happen in the Noble era.

As happened all through the 1970s, which led to several incidents when drunken players were confronted by disgusted fans.

Maguire was a brilliant coach but I saw many players out in Wigan during the his regime win, lose or draw.

Mostly though, that was after they'd won ... because under Maguire they won most matches.

There is a difference there.

Personally, I don't agree with having a pop at sozzled players, even if, yet again, they've just disgraced the town. People are allowed some downtime (though I'd strongly query whether drinking on King Street until 4am would be good for any so-called athlete).

But it's the drip-drip-drip effect of constant bad news stories, many of which seem to centre around boozing and partying, that is starting to trouble a large section of the fans. It implies that more than a little bit of hard-partying is going on, and while there may be no direct correlation between that and the truly terrible performances we're seeing on the field (though we'd be naive to think it had no effect), it does indicate a very cavalier attitude among the team.

In a time of crisis that is the exact opposite of what we need. We want warriors, Spartans, not bloody playboys.

Tonight, when we had a 4-pointer that we had a good chance of winning, we're going into it on the back of yet another drink-related scandal and down in numbers.

If Wigan trash Leeds tonight, I'll come on here and take all this back. But I doubt anyone needs to hold their breath for that.

Funny that.

during the 10 season half way through the players implemented a drink ban themselves until they won it

After the loss to Leeds in the cup

rlConfirmed as gonerl

Can't blame him for wanting to take his family home. Great bloke who made a bad decision. All the best to him

Onto the next point, are we now likely to make a move for Clark for this season?

See you later, Dickfingers. You won't be missed.